Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Sharpening wood carving tools

Sharpening carving tools is an essential step in carving. A sharp carving tool works better because it slices through the wood easier, making it safer and quicker to use. It, also, leaves a cleaner path behind. A good sharp edge means less effort, which means less force. When less force is needed, more control is possible, making the work safer.

There are many methods of sharpening carving tools from power grinders to wetstones to sandpaper and finally the strop. The most inexpensive method is using a couple of grades of sandpaper and a strop.

Wood carving business

Wood carvings have always been popular. Most people, who have ever been to countries such as Indonesia, or the Philippines, will have seen them being made by hand. The talented craftsmen sitting cross-legged on the floor, chipping away at a piece of wood, until they have created an animal, person’s head, or other wonderful piece of wood carving.

These unique one-offs always seem far more special than anything we could make. Then, one day, you visit a craft shop back home, and see a shelf filled with identical wood carvings. How do they get them all to look the same? Surely, one craftsman cannot be that precise each time? Well, no, they can’t. The secret behind this mass-production is a wood-carving machine. This is where you can set up your own lucrative business, making woodcarvings, without having to lift a single carving tool yourself.

Wood carving in action

Watching wood carved into statues is perhaps the most apparent instance of wood carving because it’s something we can see first hand. But wood carving is not just a part of our lives when we see it at a fair or amusement park, wood carving plays a role in virtually all aspects of our day. The kitchen table we sit at, the wooden chairs we sit in, the cabinets we open, the pencils we use, the walking sticks we twirl, the entertainment centers we buy, the chopsticks we use…all of these things—in one form or another—are types of wood carving that play a role in our every day life.

CONCLUSION

Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool held in the hand (this may be a power tool), resulting in a wooden figure or figurine (this may be abstract in nature) or in the ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual sculptures, to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery.